(June 23, 2008) -- LBReport.com has learned of plans being pursued to turn the Boeing (former Douglas) aircraft plant (east side of Lakewood Blvd. north of Conant Street) into a state of the art Hollywood-style studio complex, complete with pre-production, production and post-production capabilities.

The effort involves Hollywood entertainment industry figures including Jack O'Halloran, whose acting credits include "Non" in Superman feature films, and Jay Samit, who participated in a June 19 Las Vegas conference on network-enabled voice, video and data, identified in release for that event as CEO of "Long Beach Studios."

Bios and news stories visible on the internet indicate Mr. Samit has held management positions at Sony, EMI, and Universal Studios involving new internet media ventures...and refer to him as a proponent of combining the powers of Silicon Valley-driven digital media with Hollywood.

Asked by LBReport.com what she knows about the project, Long Beach Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske (in whose district the former aircraft plant is located) indicated that Mr. O'Halloran met with her several weeks ago and discussed the plans, but she said she has no specifics on their current status.

The chairman of Cal State University Long Beach's Film Dept., Prof. Craig Smith, told LBReport.com that he's supportive of the development, believes it would be a boon for the community ("exactly the kind we want") and believes it's a logical and a smart move, building on filming activity already taking place in and around Long Beach.

In addition to the possible studio venue, Long Beach offers a number of different filming backdrops within a compact area (an urbanized downtown with older buildings and new highrises, a beachfront and parkland open space all within a few miles). CSI Miami is among the prime time shows and movies frequently seen shooting around town.

Downey's former NASA/Boeing site plant has been turned into "Downey Studios," calling itself "the largest independent film facility in Los Angeles" with "all the amenities of a full service major studio with none of the hassles. All of this lies in the 30 mile zone and is an easy drive from anywhere."

The "thirty mile zone" refers to the area within a thirty-mile radius of Beverly Blvd/La Cienega Blvd in L.A., the "studio zone" used by entertainment industry unions to determine rates and work rules. From Lakewood/Conant to Beverly/La Cienega is within the thirty mile zone as the crow flies.

LB once had a movie studio presence...but that was more than a few years ago...when Buster Keaton and his contemporaries used the 1920's era Balboa Studios (7th St. near Alamitos Ave., now the LB Museum of Latin American Art).

Developing.